Mali were also disqualified, due to police and stadium security assaulting the match officials during the first leg, and so Upper Volta, who Ivory Coast had beaten in the first qualifying round, inherited their place. The team initially qualified for 1978, beating Mali 2-1 on aggregate, but were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in the second leg. They qualified in 1974 but finished bottom of their group with only a single point, then failed to qualify in 1976, again losing to Congo-Brazzaville (now simply known as the Congo) in the first round. They failed to qualify for the 1972 edition, losing 4-3 to Congo-Brazzaville in the final qualifying round. In the 1970 African Cup of Nations, the team finished top of their group, but lost to Ghana - the powerhouses of African football at the time - in the semi-finals, and went on to finish 4th after losing the third-place play-off to the United Arab Republic (now Egypt).

Ivory Coast's performances in the 1970s were mixed. After gaining independence from France, the team finished third in the 19 tournaments. In 1961 the team made their first appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations. The team took a large 11–0 victory against the Central African Republic. The team played its first international match against Dahomey, now known as Benin, which they won 3–2 on 13 April 1960 in Madagascar.

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